The Trigg County Board of Education unanimously agreed at last Thursday’s special called meeting that it will apply for its part of the money from the Race to the Top (RTTT) grant that is being applied for by the Kentucky Department of Education.

Trigg County School Superintendent Tim McGinnis said the board should receive its share of the federal grant, which is designed to improve educational standards, even though he still doesn’t have as much information as he would like.

McGinnis said that he and the local teachers union are concerned about teacher performance incentives that might be included in the grant program. A couple of teachers were at the meeting to share their concerns.

McGinnis said that while he wasn’t against teacher pay based on performance, he “has yet to see a model that works.”

However, he said he felt better about signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the matter after talking with Terry Holliday, the state commissioner of education.

The superintendent also felt like it was implied that if the board didn’t sign the MOU and the state won the grant, that the board would have the same responsibilities without the additional money, but if the board signed it and the state didn’t win the grant, then “the board would look like a team player. So it’s win win for us.”

Although no action was taken, the board discussed the possible creation of a local RTTT committee.

McGinnis said the committee should probably include himself, two school board members, two assistant school superintendents, the director of special education, the four Trigg School principals, the local Education Association president and one teacher from each school.

One of the teachers in the room felt that with only four teachers included in the group, there were more administrators than teachers represented. Trigg County Board of Education Chairman Mike Davis said that the principals, although administrators, were also hired by the teachers.

As there isn’t a real deadline for the formation of the committee, no action was made, but McGinnis felt like the discussion needed to begin.

The board also scheduled a special called meeting for Tuesday, with Butch Ganty with the Kentucky School Boards Association. The board and Ganty are hoping to formulate a timeline to find a new superintendent to replace McGinnis, who announced his upcoming retirement, which is effective July 1 of next year, at the last board meeting.